Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light

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bright sources
illuminating a path
in multiple ways
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Different light sources exist in this photo.  Artificial light illuminates from the ceiling and reflects off the metal elevator doors, and natural light coming through large windows to the left adds brightness to the inside of the building.

This is the inside of the cancer hospital where we spend a lot of time for my mother’s cancer treatments, procedures and tests.  It certainly doesn’t look or feel like a hospital, but that was the intended design – to make the patient and family feel like they were NOT in a hospital.  Even the individual patient rooms give the feeling like you are in a nice hotel room, only with a hospital bed.

I interpret “Let There Be Light” in two different ways for this posting.  First, providing light inside of the building, and second, hoping that the visits here will help provide bright light for us at the end of the tunnel with my mother’s cancer journey.  There is nothing significantly new since the last posting.  We are continuing her regular aggressive treatments and waiting to see what the next scans and tests will tell us.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

Scrub Jay Visit, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr.  (click on photo to enlarge)

Chickadee Feast, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr.  (click on photo to enlarge)

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powerfully alluring
nature is my meditation
a nourishing addiction
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How can one resist the daily solicitations of treats from visitors like these?  The bird in the first image is a scrub jay that has been coming quite regularly for the last three years, begging for peanuts.  A definite routine.  He has a charming personality.  Some days he will boldly let you know if you haven’t noticed his arrival yet or are ignoring him.  Other times, he will wait patiently.  When I took this image, he had been waiting for me to finish snapping photos of other wildlife around the yard, but perched himself in a very conspicuous area for me to see him.  Perhaps he knew I was aware of his presence and was confident I would not forget his treats.

The chickadees, as with the scrub jays, are year-round residents in our area.  They also come everyday, seeking their treats from the various bird feeders.  Occasionally they will take off with a peanut half their size, as one is attempting to do in the second image.  Their flight is wobbly with that heavy load, but they usually manage to get their feast to it’s destination.

Nature is definitely addictive.  But that’s a good thing.

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Hummingbird Profiles #4 – Amazing 素晴らしい

Hummingbird Profiles #4, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr.  (click on photo to enlarge)

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endlessly enduring
achieving the amazing
single parent
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I’m finally able to catch a few moments to post and visit a few blogs today.  Although I haven’t been able to respond to each of your comments, I continue to appreciate all your kind words, encouragement, visits and likes.  Thank you.

We hit more bumps in the road recently with my mother’s health, and her cancer chemotherapy treatments had to be postponed two times in a row now.  In addition, there is more cancer growth, another metastasized spot detected from an MRI scan taken a little over a week ago, more procedures, and radiation.  We continue to hope that we will receive some bit of good news in the near future, instead of worsening news.  These still remain scary, hectic, and gut wrenching times.

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Here is the fourth image in my hummingbird photomanipulation series I did last year.  This is a female broad-tailed hummingbird.  An image of the male broad-tailed hummingbird was posted here.  Hummingbirds in general are quite amazing, and their dense, cuplike nests have been described as “amazing architectural creations that protect and nurture some of the most delicate birds.”  Hummingbird nests are built by the female, entirely by the female bird, spending several hours a day for up to a week collecting materials to build the nest.  Also, the females raise the chicks – single parenting.  The male hummingbirds are not involved in raising the young after the act of copulation is complete.

I continue to dedicate this hummingbird series to my mother.  My mother, who became divorced and a single parent when I was too young to remember, raised, supported and nurtured me, AND worked full time and multiple jobs to provide for me.  She has overcome many hardships over the years, and is one of the most compassionate, sincere and generous people I know.  She is also one of the most AMAZING and beautiful people I know!

I’m including two Japanese words to represent “amazing”

素晴らしい  (すばらしい), which is read subarashi
(superb; fantastic; marvelous; wonderful; terrific; amazing; great)

and

凄い  (すごい), which is read sugoi
(amazing – of strength; great – of skills; wonderful; terrific;)

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Hummingbird Profiles #3 – Powerful, Strength 強力

Hummingbird Profiles #3, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr.  (click on photo to enlarge)

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a new chill on my skin
colors change before my eyes
autumn migration
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Yesterday was the start of my Mom’s second chemotherapy treatment.  She will have 12 total treatments over the next six months, minimum.  There are certainly side effects, but not to the extent we expected so far.  She is not brutally ill like we anticipated.  She is doing ok overall even though it is still a struggle for her, especially for the first week after the treatment.  We are all well aware of the physical and mental power and strength needed to make our way through this journey, including all the other hurdles we have going on at the same time.

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Here is the third image in my hummingbird photomanipulation series I did last year.  This is a male Rufous hummingbird.  The Rufous is a later arriver at our feeders, first appearing in the middle of July, and is also the first of the hummingbird species to leave.  Although a few hummingbirds are still here at our feeders, the Rufous in particular have already departed.  I did not have the opportunity to enjoy seeing and photographing the hummingbirds as much this summer as in previous years, but I at least got a couple of photo sessions in this past spring.

Since autumn officially arrives here in the northern hemisphere in a few days, on September 22, I thought the beautiful coloring of the Rufous hummingbird was appropriate to welcome the new season.

A common symbolism of hummingbirds is powerful energy and the ability to accomplish the seemingly impossible.  They are built for power, with about 30% of their weight consisting of flight muscles.  Some migrate impressive distances – up to 500 miles nonstop over the Gulf of Mexico.  Two behaviors separate the Rufous from other hummingbird:  1) It ventures farther north during the migration than any other, reaching the southeastern coast of Alaska, and 2) It has the longest known migration of any bird species, traveling over 3,000 miles between Mexico and Alaska.

Hummingbirds symbolize Powerful and Strength
(in Japanese, it is 強力 (きょうりょく), which is read kyouryoku

I also saw another translation of 強力 as “herculean strength.”  I believe it, given the strength and stamina these little hummingbirds need for their long journey!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Point of View / Update

Cancerous Aphids, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr.  (click on photo to enlarge)

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voracious monsters
destroying vitality
metastatic cancer
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Cancer – Any evil condition or thing that spreads destructively.

These voracious, ravenous aphids extracted so many nutrients and vitality from some of our plants, that they became very, very sick.  We saw more aphids than we had ever seen before in our yard, and as a result, we also saw more ladybugs than we have ever seen, attacking the cancerous aphids.

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As I wrote previously, we are in the middle of a frightening cancer battle.  My mother was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer…4 out of 4.  What is Stage 4?  Per our surgeon, it means cancer has metastasized from it’s original site to other organs.

Each doctor visit and surgery result over the last two months brought worse news, showing more and more spread, and leaving us in an endless nightmare.  The cancer is extremely rare, aggressive, and high-grade, for which there is NO standard treatment and no clinical trials because of its rarity.  There is no known cause.  It is not curable.  The prognosis is……….well….…all I will say is that people have been known to beat the odds and we are hopeful and determined that she will beat it.  It is a very scary time.

Cancer treatments began this week.  Two weeks ago, we made a quick trip to another high rated cancer hospital for a second opinion, and were more assured we are headed down the right path with her initial treatment plan.  Because of the cancer’s aggressiveness, we needed to start as soon as possible after recovery from her last surgery.  The treatments are a rigorous regimen of two days of chemotherapy every two weeks for a minimum of six months.  It’s too soon to see what the actual side effects will be since everyone reacts differently to the drugs, but we know what the common side effects are.

Hopefully the treatments will turn out to be a swarm of ladybugs focused on and succeeding in obliterating the cancer!

Again, I will not be as active in the blogging world but will do my best.  Thank you for all of the wonderful well wishes you continue to send for my mother and for staying with me through these tough times.

This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is Point of View.  I’ve used the theme in two ways – one in the photo itself, and one regarding focused treatment.

Quick Update

I’m not able to include a photo or haiku with this posting, but I wanted to provide a quick update about my absence.  Those of you who follow this blog may have read about my mother’s new cancer battle.  Since my last posting, each new test result and doctor visit brought worse and worse news.  Her situation has been a top priority for us, and I have been unable find time recently to blog or take photos.  I was also without an internet connection for several days.

It will be at least another one to two weeks before I am able to post a better update.  We will be traveling this week to obtain a second opinion. Next week we will be faced with more doctor visits and another surgery, and then rigorous treatments starting next month.  This is a very frightening time.

Thank you for all the well wishes you have provided for my mother, and thank you for being patient and staying with me.  Thank you also to all the new followers to this blog.  Much appreciated!!

That Dreadful Word No One Wants to Hear

Vortex, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr.  (click on photo to enlarge)

This post is different from what I normally post.  Over the last several weeks, I’ve felt like I’ve been in a constant spin cycle, increasing in speed and turbulence due to escalating health problems and other issues.  Constant shaking, rapid and forceful heart palpitations, passing out, and intense stomach pains landed me in the emergency room the first week in June, hooked up to several wires and an IV.  Eventually the doctor determined the main issue was “extreme stress.”  Some of these symptoms still continue.

In my last post, I talked about spending several days in the hospital with my Mother because of an unexpected surgery.  That occurred in the middle of June after my own ER visit.  Last week, after recuperating with us, she had what we thought would be a routine follow-up with the doctor, where we would be told she was progressing as expected.  We spent a few minutes talking with the nurse and telling him how my Mom was doing since her surgery.  We had no inkling what was to happen next.  He handed us some papers and said, “I have your pathology results here…there is cancer present…”   What!?!?  The chance of cancer, we were told after surgery, was remote.  But now, that “remote” chance was smacking us right in the face!

We were both shocked.  My Mom’s eyes were welling with tears and her voice was shaking.  I held her hand.  I saw the nurse’s mouth still moving, seemingly in slow motion, but I didn’t hear the next few words.  I was shaking uncontrollably.  My stomach was knotted and churning so violently I thought it was about to explode out of me.  The room was spinning and I felt like we had been yanked right into a vortex.  It is a very rare cancer.  “I’m so sorry to have to give you this news,” he said to us.  The doctor came in next.  We asked him several questions, then he gave us the next steps.  We would be continuing her care with a surgical oncologist.

A few days later (last Friday), we met with this oncologist.  More tests and scans, another surgery, and more cutting and removing to determine the extent of the cancer and further treatments, if necessary.

We are still in shock with this new challenge and we’ll have to take it one step at a time.  Yes, it’s scary, and yes, we have cried.  This is my Mom’s second battle with cancer.  Both cancers are rare and both are unrelated to each other.  This second cancer is even more rare than the first, and because it is so rare, its treatments have not undergone clinical trials.  There is also no known cause.  However, she will receive care at a good cancer hospital just 40 minutes away from our house.  My Mom is strong and healthy for her age, and a truly wonderful, genuine, generous and compassionate person anyone would feel privileged to know.  She has been there for us consistently to help out, provide support, and pull us out of the deepest, darkest holes.

This is not just her battle, it’s our battle, and I will be with my precious mother every step of the way supporting her the best I can.

“Q” Challenge: Qigong

Scrub Jay Qigong, a photo by Fergiemoto on Flickr.  Click on photo to enlarge.

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focus…breathe…relax…
mastery of awareness
perfectly balanced
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Qi (or chi – pronounced “chee”) is frequently translated as life energy, life force, or energy flow.  Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts.

Gong (or kung; gung – pronounced “gung”) is often translated as cultivation or work.

Qigong (pronounced “chee gung”) refers to the cultivation and balance of life energy, especially for health.  It focuses on breath, movement and awareness.

Qigong (and tai chi, with which you may be more familiar) is a traditional Chinese exercise.  It is a form of gentle exercise involving movements that are typically repeated, composed of strengthening and stretching the body, increasing fluid movement, enhancing balance and building awareness of how the body moves through space.  It is based on two ideas:

• Qi flows through the body along “energy pathways” called meridians. If the flow of qi is blocked or unbalanced at any point along the pathway, it is thought that you may become ill. Doing qi gong (or tai chi) increases energy flow and improves health through gentle, graceful, repeated movements.
• Nature, including the body, consists of opposing forces called yin and yang. Good health results when these forces are in balance. Qi gong (or tai chi) movements attempt to help restore the body’s balance of yin and yang.

Some believe that as a complement to Western medicine, qigong can help the body heal itself.

(Sources: WebMD and Wikipedia)

Notice the scrub jay in the photo above.  He is perfectly balanced at the top of a 35+ feet tall tree with his right leg, and is holding his left leg steady, as if he is doing a qigong movement!  He also has a deformed left foot, which doesn’t seem to hold him back much. (Click here to see another photo of this same bird.)

Also, seeing his pose reminded me of the original 1984 “Karate Kid” movie, when Daniel was learning an important life lesson about balance.  (See image at the Wikipedia link here.)  In reality, this bird was just waiting for me to put out some peanuts for his daily treat!

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Examples of qigong health benefits:

• Health Benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong – WebMD
• Health Benefits of Qigong – Wikipedia
• Qigong Study for Diabetes Patients – WebMD
• Qigong Study for Prostate Cancer Patients – Huntsman Cancer Institute
• What are the Benefits of Qigong? – eHow

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Have you tried qigong (or tai chi)?  If so, what are your experiences?